TURIN, ITALY – The Court of Appeal in Turin, Italy, has for now blocked the U.S. government’s request to extradite Harris County capital murder suspect Lee Gilley over concerns about the death penalty, according to Italian court records obtained by KPRC 2 News.
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The new records come after a hearing in Turin last week as the Italian judges are now asking the U.S. government for additional guarantees to protect Gilley from the death penalty.
Gilley, 39, had been on a $1 million bond for capital murder since Oct. 2024 when he allegedly murdered his pregnant wife Christa Bauer at their home in the Heights. In May, he cut off his ankle monitor and flew to Milan, Italy, using a fake name and forged travel documents, according to federal investigators, before being caught by law enforcement at the airport.
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In a sworn declaration to support the extradition request prepared by the U.S. Department of Justice and Harris County District Attorney’s Office, prosecutors noted the penalty for capital murder in Texas is the death penalty or life without parole, according to records, and the DA’s Office indicated it had not sought the death penalty, so if convicted, Gilley would receive an automatic life without parole sentence.
The records included a late June email from prosecutor Janna Oswald to defense attorney Dick DeGuerin indicating the DA’s Office would not file anything with the court in Texas “saying that we are not seeking the death penalty or are waiving it. We do not do that in other cases, as you know.”
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In the order from the Italian court, the judges raised concerns about Oswald’s email, according to an English translation of the records, because “the wording of this communication suggests that the Harris County District Attorney’s Office has not definitively waived pursuing a death sentence; moreover, the previously cited sworn statement only said the death penalty had not been sought, not that it could not be sought in the future.”
The judges wrote that the Court could not see clearly how the U.S. government can guarantee compliance with the condition that the death penalty will not be imposed.
The Italian court is also seeking clarification from the U.S. government about whether Gilley could be convicted of a lesser offense with a lesser penalty, according to a translation of the records, which would be more aligned with the Italian legal system, where the government considers a maximum sentence to be 26 years.
In a list of requests for clarification, the judges asked to confirm the email appearing to be sent by Oswald to DeGuerin was in fact sent by her, how the U.S. can guarantee compliance with the non-application of the death penalty, whether Gilley could be convicted of a less serious penalty than life imprisonment without parole, whether the prosecution intends to maintain the multiple-murder charge or whether a different and less serious charge may be brought, and if there are any options for a person sentenced to life without parole to be released.
The court set a deadline of Aug. 31 for a response. A hearing has also been scheduled for early September, according to the records.